PROJECT SUMMARY The major goal of the NYU NIEHS Center Pilot Project Program (PPP) is to promote both the Center's long- range research interests and its short-term mission. In the process of achieving these major goals, the PPP emphasizes collaboration between Center members and the NYU community, encourages Center investigators to explore new research initiatives, and motivates new investigators to establish independent research in the Environmental Health Sciences. Awarded Pilot Projects are judged based upon the likelihood that the proposed research would yield NIEHS R01 funding. In the last funding cycle of the Center grant (2012- 2016) Pilot funds resulted in a substantial number of NIEHS awards that greatly exceeded the money spent for Pilot Projects. The research interests of the Center are four-fold: 1) to understand the mechanisms of action, component composition, adverse health effects, mitigation, and risks of ambient pollution exposures; 2) to understand the molecular mechanisms of metal toxicity and carcinogenicity; 3) to understand the role of DNA damage and DNA repair in environment factor-induced carcinogenesis and cancer development; and 4) to explore the epigenetic responses to environmental exposure. The PPP will achieve these goals by: issuing RFAs, which are formulated with the input from our Center Director and Internal Advisory Committee (IAC) members, conducting the review process via a modified NIH system, and making funding decisions following scientific peer review and IAC input. Dr. Tang monitors the Pilot Project research conducted by the investigators on a regular basis and reports any interesting results obtained to the IAC, particularly the generation of preliminary data that can be useful for an NIEHS grant application. We also require each Pilot Project grant recipient to prepare an R01 type grant application with the preliminary data that has been acquired as a result of Pilot Project funding, and each recipient must also submit a final report to be included with the annual NIEHS Center progress report.